Page 99 of Too Cursed To Kiss
Sert interrupted, “I think the girl has some secrets to share. Don’t you, girl?”
Agatha glared as Sert walked toward me in all his slinking blackness. If people left trails, his would be black slime.
Wald stepped in his way.
Sert made to walk around him. Wald shifted and crossed his arms.
I raced over and tripped on the fricking pant leg hem. With an echoing rip, I plunged forward. Wald whipped around and caught me. I face-planted against his solidness, melting into his musky goodness. His arms held memories. I looked up into his amber-like eyes, expecting recognition of the passion I felt for him and recoiled from the sadness and anger. He knew something I didn’t. They’d made some kind of deal. A deal that involved me.
“Holy crap,” I said as he set me upright. I should have been wincing, but now my side didn’t hurt. Wald didn’t even look at me. My heart cracked in two.
Sert’s fathomless black eyes bored into my soul. “How do you know about this ring, human?”
I blathered words to fill space while I figured things out, “Uh, ring? It’s pretty. I want to wear it. I like jewelry,” I said, seductively licking my lips and fingering the brooch near the exposed cleavage. I knew damn well it wasn’t going to work, but I was willing to go with any distraction in hope that something might stick.
“You’ve seen this particular ring before, and you knowwhat it does. Something smells here.” Sert turned and flourished his hand at Maverick and Victoria. They remained expressionless.
“Oh honey, you must be so cold down here in that suit,” Agatha said, coming up behind me and placing my leather jacket over my shoulders. “I’ll go get you a nice warm drink.” She clicked back to the wall and was about to walk through it when Devlyn called out.
“Aunt Agatha? You should stay until we have all this resolved. I bet you’d love to hear what thisgirlhas to say.” His request was no suggestion.
Goddamn it, now Devlyn had picked up on Sert calling me “girl.” Someone was going to die at this rate, and it wasn’t me. I hoped.
Agatha stopped, turned around, and then walked to stand next to Victoria. Maverick walked forward. It was like dominoes tapping.
He squared his shoulders and expanded as if he owned the space. “You are out of line here, Son. This is my soil, and the rules are mine to make.”
Devlyn blanched, and his mouth opened like he was wordless. It was delightful to see his father could scare the crap out of him. Was Maverick his father? My family history memory was failing… Yes, he, Caledonia, and Britannia were Maverick’s kids.
Sert was watching the exchange, but he turned back to me and placed an arm around my leather-covered shoulders.
I squirmed. “Off.” And ducked under his arm. The jacket slipped, and I shrugged my arms into it.
He sneered at me, his black eyes boring into my soul. “Devlyn, she’s lying. She knows what the ring does, and I expect she knows something else she doesn’t want to share.Would you like me to extract the truth?” He licked his lips, and shivers crawled up my spine.
I straightened the brooch, which was basically doing nothing to keep the cleavage closed. “No extracting, thanks. You’re wrong. I don’t know anything except that ring is lovely.” I held it up to the lights bolted to the stone ceiling. The stone was no longer cracked. “Garnet? Ruby? Very pretty. Anyways, let’s get on with this.” I enclosed the ring in my hand and put my hands on my hips. “Where were we? You were going to fix my wound, and then we were all going home? Why don’t you explain the process?”
“First give Wald the ring back.” Devlyn crossed his arms, and Wald reached out his empty palm to me. I paused. His scent flowed over me in waves as he stood in front of me, blocking me from Devlyn. I inhaled deeply. The ring was dull and lifeless. Who knew if it was even the same one. Agatha’s voice whispered in my head,“You can trust him.” There was no way Wald hadn’t noticed my reaction, but no one else had probably seen. I held out the ring. He still didn’t appear to recognize me, but when his fingers dusted mine to take the ring, sparks sizzled up my arm. His eyes widened, and his lips twitched. If his brain didn’t recognize me, something in him did. I had to trust he knew what he was doing.
Devlyn took the ring from Wald with delight that lit his whole face. Britannia’s lips clamped tight, and her fists closed and opened. Yeah, she wouldn’t be happy. I would bet a week of Save-Mor salary that Devlyn wouldn’t have the ring for long. Still, what mattered was me being not-dead and Wald getting rid of Soda. Right? Right. Was I trying to convince myself?
“Now like a goodgirl,sit on the altar.” Devlyn pointed at me as I sneered at him.
Victoria walked between us. “It’s necessary, dear, for the ritual.” Her fragile long fingers wrapped around mine and led me to the altar. I reluctantly went with her. The stone grazed the back of the pantsuit as I hoisted myself up. That was going to leave a mark.
“Excellent. Where is the Klyngore?” Devlyn asked the assembled.
“Here,” Wald said, pulling the short sword out of a sheath inside his coat. His fingers were pale against the darkened serpents on the hilt. The light caught the blade, and I swear the snakes were moving under his hand. I swallowed silently, sending messages to Agatha to explain exactly why I was trusting this would work out for me.
Sert moved toward Wald. “I will have to cut into the wound again for us to undo this,” he said with a smirk, gesturing at me. He held out his hand for Wald to give him the Klyngore.
Oh my God, they were going to kill me for real.
I tensed to leap off the altar, scanning for an escape plan that wouldn’t instantly fail but not seeing one.
Maverick’s massive hands clamped on my shoulders and pressed me down against the rough altar stone.
I thrashed as much as I could. “Let me go!” I yelled, hoping to elicit sympathy from someone. I silently pleaded with Agatha to help me.
